One of my favorite pasta is Lasagna, I’m all on board with those layers and layers and layers of cheese. Bring it on! I consider Lasagna a full  meal on its own, just because it quite filling and heavy. It’s like “sleeping” pills that puts me to sleep after eating it, you can probably tell why. Cheese, anyone?  How about more meat?

Pasta is one of my favorite way to enjoy my “carbs” and that’s on top of my homemade breads. There’s something about Lasagna that really made me feel satisfied after eating it. I always find savory dish with cheese very inviting, and this Lasagna definitely fits that profile. I used to make it in large batch when I invited friends to my place, but even after that, there’s still so many left. I mean no matter how much I love it, there’s a limit on how much I can eat. 8 – 10 servings is definitely going over board for me. Although Lasagna is one pasta that freezes well, I still prefer and enjoy having it fresh out from the oven. When it comes to Lasagna, there’s nothing like a melting and bubbling layers of cheese right out of the oven. I just love seeing the cheese melt while I slice it and transfer it to the serving plate. It’s one of my simple pleasures in life.

Since I had been scaling down most of my recipes to small batch, I thought this would be a great candidate for that. A small batch Lasagna that serves 4 is just a perfect portion for sharing and for packed lunch for busy weekday at the office. Lasagna for lunch, how good is that?  Besides, I want to leave room for variation and have more than just 1 dish. I like serving this with my Chicken Tenders, Mexican Mango and Starwberry Mix Greens Salad and some Homemade Soft Garlic Bread. Of course, lets not forget about the dessert’, the likes of Chocolate Lava Cake or Pistachio Avocado Ice Cream, I always make room for dessert and there’s no argument with that.

Why should you make this Lasagna?

It’s absolutely delicious, that’s just it! The sauce has the right sweet, salty and tomato flavor. It got plenty of meat, I strongly believe that when it comes to Lasagna, the more meat the merrier and same goes for the cheese. I used 3 different kind of cheese for this Lasagna, you can use whatever cheese you prefer just make sure to a mozzarella and ricotta cheese as one of them as they really mad the dish stansdout. The ricotta cheese gave the pasta a creamy taste, while the mozzarella gave the melting effect that never failed to make me beg for more! A layer of thick melting cheese is a sure way to get your guest drooling over it. I added some chili flakes for a slight heat, that always worked for me but feel free to remove it if you are not into spicy stuff. Last but not the least, it’s a simple recipe. You can make the Homemade Instant Pasta Sauce ahead of time and assemble and bake the pasta the day that you want to serve it. Sometimes, I assemble the pasta and leave it in the fridge and I’ll just grab and bake it few hours before serving it. Again, we want it melting and bubbling so I suggest if you can, bake it few minutes before your guest arrives. Let me show you how I made this. Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

• 350g lean beef – minced (You can also use shredded chicken)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small white onion – chopped
• 2 cloves garlic – minced
• 1/2 tsp salt (adjust as needed)
• 3/4 tsp chili flakes
• 2 tsp granulated white sugar
• 3/4 cup tomato sauce or Homemade Instant Pasta Sauce
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 3/4 cup Ricotta Cheese (more or less depending on how many layers you are making)
• 3/4 cup Mozarella Cheese (more or less depending on how many layers you are making)

Instructions:

1. Add oil to heated pan, followed by the garlic. Saute until fragrant then add the onions and saute until translucent.
2. Add ground meat and cook until meat is fully cooked. Mix it and try to separate it into small pieces. The meat will have a tendency to clump together so I used fork to separate them apart. The meat will produce water as you cook it, continue mixing it until the water is reduced.
3. Add tomato sauce, salt, pepper, sugar,parsley and basil. Adjust seasoning as needed. Cook until sauce is reduce and thick. You don’t want to have too much of a runny sauce because that will make the pasta soggy. The more reduced it is, the better. Set aside and prepare the pasta.
4. Cook pasta as per package instructions. If you are using an oven ready Lasagna noodles, you can use it as is without pre-cooking it. If you are using the non oven ready, have the pasta half cook only as it will continue to cook once in the oven.
5. Arrange the pasta in a baking dish. Bottom layer pasta, then spread sauce then add the cheese. Layer it with another pasta and do the same process until you reach close to the top of the baking dish rim. I normally do 2-3 layers ending with cheese layer on top. Add sprinkle of parsely on top for garnishing.
6. Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven for 35-40 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serves 4

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